Meade Lightswitch Tracking

[Nightman]

Hi all,

I am new to this forum and hope to learn heaps and then be a contributor when I gain some knowledge/experience.

I am looking to buy my first GoTo telescope and had my eye on the Meade ETX-LS8 ACF. Looks very easy to use but my question is does it track an object once I have selected it and hit the GoTo button?

I have had a look through the manual but I didn't find much about tracking except for satellites.

I was also tossing up between the LS8 and the LX90. Any comments on which would be the better choice?

Cheers :thumbsup:

[mozzie]

hi phill
welcome to iis:welcome:

yes both the ls & lx model scopes are goto which means that once you do a 2 star alignment the scope will know where it is and any object in its handpiece it will goto.the lx has around 30,000 objects and i think the new ls have around 100,000 objects.
iv'e owned the lx90 and there a great scope the 8" that your looking at is nice and portable not to heavy.meade now have acf optics so if you buy a meade acf gives you come free stars to the edge of the eyepiece.

hope this helps

[Nightman]

Hi Mozzie

Thanks for your input.

My question was not about GoTo as much but after selecting an object (after hitting GoTo) does the LS scope continue to track it. In other words, if I GoTo Jupiter and walk away from the scope for 10 minutes, when I return will Jupiter still be in the eyepiece or would I have to command the scope to GoTo Jupiter again?

Cheers :shrug:

[Visionoz]

Yes after "goto-ing" it will continue to track the star/object

Whether it stays there eg after 15mins depends on your polar alignment which if greatly out will cause the star to "drift" in the eyepiece - in general they are pretty good after the two star alignment process which Mozzie mentioned earlier

HTH
Cheers
Bill

[DavidTrap]

I have an LX-90. It will certainly continue to track an object, until you tell it to do otherwise. I have walked away for an hour and returned to find Jupiter still reasonably well centred in a low power eyepiece.

If you set it up in Alt-Az mode, I have found that how long it will keep an object centred for depends on a couple of things:
a. how level your tripod is
b. how well did you centre the two alignment stars
c. how recently you have performed a "Train Drive", nb. this is not Periodic Error Training. Much easier to do - best done on a distant object in daylight

Accurate polar-alignment on the wedge/tripod is much more difficult. The whole structure can "bounce" significantly - it's just not rigid enough for my liking.

Cheers
DT

[Nightman]

Thanks guys.

I am a bit happier now and looking forward to getting out there and enjoying the night sky.

Appreciate your replies.

:thanx: